Dollar Sign Bank

Abstract

A free-standing coin bank having a pair of vertical tubes with closed bottoms and coin receiving openings in the top adjustably held in an S curved strip, with the bottom of the curved strip and the bottoms of the vertical tubes forming an adjustable base for freestanding the device; in preferred embodiment the tubes have rounded bottoms and the tubes and strip are of clear material.

Description

This invention relates generally to coin banks and particularly to coin banks of the type allowing visual inspection of the contents.

In the prior art, coin banks were disclosed in which the quantity of coins saved was made visible through openings and transparent windows. Free standing coin banks are also known, as well as banks having plural compartments for coins and banks having thrift incentive markings.

However, in the prior art, no coin bank is provided which is entirely freestanding in the savings-incentive shape of a dollar sign, without additional base or any distractive or other extraneous part, which is transparent, displaying the contents in all directions, and which is adjustable to compensate for irregularities in ledges, tables, counters, or other surfaces upon which set.

To provide such a coin bank in a preferred embodiment is a principal object of the present invention.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a coin bank which is made from readily available materials with a minimun of fabrication and assembly steps, which is non-marring, and which is adaptable to destructive-opening versions (as exemplified by porcelain piggy banks) and to non-destructive opening versions.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a coin bank as described which is durable, safe, economical, visually pleasing, stable, safe and easy to carry.

The above and other advantages and objects of the invention will become more readily apparent upon inspection of the following description, including the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to the FIG. 1 view but with the invention rotated 45.degree. about a vertical axis;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the FIG. 1 embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a modified detail of a top portion similar to that of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4a shows a further top modification;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of a modified embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a strip of material.

In the Figures like numerals refer to like parts.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show the invention 10 in freestanding attitude on a table or other surface T, in three respective positions of rotation about a vertical axis.

Paired, vertically elongate coin receptacles 12, 14 are held in parallel spaced relation on S-shaped strip 16.

The receptacles are generally in the form of straight test tubes, with rounded bottoms 18 and 20, and open tops 22 and 24 which protrude above and below the S-shaped strip 16.

The S-shaped strip 16 has one set of three vertically aligned holes 26, 28 and 30, receiving receptacle 12 and a second set of three vertically aligned holes 32, 34 and 36 receiving receptacle 14, the whole arrangement forming a dollar sign when viewed from the side. C, FIG. 2, indicates coins.

FIG. 1 details an important aspect of the invention, the manner of support of the device.

S-curved strip 16 is, in section, parallel with the supporting surface T at the bottom portion 38 of the S-curve.

The bottom portion 38 of the S-shaped strip rests on the supporting surface T. Since the transverse section of the strip is effectively flat, and rests flat on the supporting surface, this prevents the device from tipping laterally. The rounded ends 18, 20 of the receptacles 12, 14 which protrude downward and rest on the supporting surface in co-planar relation with the rounded ends of the receptacles, preventing the device from tipping in the other direction, that is, in the front to back plane.

In the preferred embodiment, the fit between the receptacles 12 and 14 and the S-shaped strip is a sliding fit, allowing adjustment of the amount of protrusion of the rounded ends 18 and 20 with respect to bottom portion 38 of the strip, although the fit may be tighter at the upper holes than at the bottom holes in the strip if the proportions of the S and the rounded ends make the rounded ends more difficult to grasp than the upper portions of the test tubes.

Since the weight of coins held can be as much as several pounds per receptacle, depending on size, the feature of resting the rounded ends on the supporting surface both transfers the load directly to the surface and insures that the rounded ends of the receptacles protrude a sufficient distance to prevent front-to-back tipping. When a greater weight of coins is added to one receptacle than the other the device still remains stable. The rounded ends and rounded bottom of the S-shaped strip prevent marring of the supporting surface. Thermoplastic is the preferred material for the invention with both the strip and the receptacles being preferably of clear acrylic, clear polystyrene, or the like. For low cost and appearance, thermoplastic test tubes can be used for the receptacles.

Glass test tubes may be used for the receptacles. These are readily available, highly polished in appearance, and when in place are protected from breakage by the plastic, since when the device is knocked over in any direction, the plastic cushions the impact.

Additionally, test tubes have other advantages specific to the application.

FIG. 4 shows how the lips 40, 42 of test tubes 12, 14 engage the S-shaped strip 16 and prevent the relatively loosely fitted receptacles 12, 14 from dropping through when the device is lifted by the S-shaped strip when heavily loaded with coins C. The other portions of the S construction cramp the test tubes and help support them also. Even so, in this construction the fit between plastic and test tube can be looser than it might otherwise be to prevent the test tube from dropping through when the device is lifted.

Glass tubes with the tops reduced to coin slots 43, FIG. 4a, whether test tubes or glass rods, can be used also, in which case the tubes are shattered to retrieve the coins and then are replaced, in the porcelain piggy bank tradition.

FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment 510 of the invention in which straight glass tubes 512, 514 (or plastic tubes) are substituted for the test tubes of the previous embodiment. The bottoms of the tubes are sealed by plugs 44, 46 which may be cemented in place. Fit between the tubes and S-shaped strip 516 is preferably relatively tighter than if the tubes had test tube lips at the top.

A further feature of the device is apparent in FIG. 5. If the surface T is not perfectly flat, the tubes can be lowered or raised to accommodate. One or both of the tubes can then be cemented to the strip as at 48 to fix the adjustment, or the fit can be made sufficiently tight between tube and strip to fix the adjustment as previously described. Because the tubes of the FIG. 5 embodiment are not rounded at the bottom in the manner of test tubes the support on uneven surfaces is less well defined than in the previous embodiment and the supporting surface is less protected against marring.

FIG. 6 shows a simple manner of fabrication of the strip. Elliptical holes 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 and 36 are sheared, melted or drilled in flat strip 16' which is then heated and bent around an S-shaped form, not shown.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims

What is claimed and desired to be secured by U.S. Letters Patent is:

1. A free-standing coin bank comprising first and second tubes having open tops and closed bottoms, and a curved strip having a plurality of apertures therein adjustably holding said first and second tubes upright in parallel-spaced relation with the respective lower ends thereof protruding through the lowermost portion of the curved strip, the curved strip being in the shape of an S, the tubes being spaced in the plane of the S with the tops thereof protruding upward through the upper portion of the S, the overall form comprising a dollar sign, the bottom of the curved strip being effectively flat in transverse section with the lowermost portion thereof position in substantially coplanar relation with the lower ends of the tubes.

2. A free-standing coin bank as recited in claim 1, wherein the bottoms of the tubes are rounded.

3. A free-standing coin bank as recited in claim 2, wherein at least one of the tubes has a lip at the top wider across than at least one of the apertures in the curved strip.

4. A free-standing coin bank as recited in claim 3, wherein all said tubes and curved strip are composed of glass-like transparent material.